A few years ago, Bill Prosser, aboard the 85-foot underwater research vessel UNDERSEA HUNTER, off Florida, reported that, "a glowing illumination" off the starboard bow momentarily blinded him. It was a large ship, yet is didn’t show on his radar screen. "It looked like a huge resort hotel of several levels," he reported, and she was "running a parallel course with the UNDERSEA HUNTER." As Prosser wrestled with the wheel to avoid colliding with this phantom ship, "it moved forty-five degrees in a matter of seconds, then vanished as quickly as it appeared," he said, "and there wasn’t another vessel in sight." The apparition frightened Bill Prosser; he called it his "FLYING DUTCHMAN-HILTON."

No one knows if there was once a real vessel named FLYING DUTCHMAN that spawned the legend. Authorities on the subject have, over the years, generally concluded that the skipper of the DUTCHMAN was a thirteenth-century nobleman who murdered his wife and his own brother, whom he thought were lovers, only later discovering that they were not. The torture of his mistake drove him to sail the seas forever in a wild rage, daring each tempest to destroy him and his vessel, but to no avail-he sails on. Another variation is that a Dutchman named Bernard Fokke made a pact with the devil, so that his vessel could be the fastest in the world. To gain the man’s soul, the devil agreed; but instead of one lifetime, Fokke was obliged to swiftly sail the seven seas forever. Over the centuries, thousands of sailors have returned to home port after long voyages to tell their friends and families that they had seen the dreaded FLYING DUTCHMN. Many who saw it considered the vision bad luck, both for themselves and the ship they sailed in, so we much presume that many who saw it never returned home to tell their family and friends.

Imagine the audacity of a clipper ship owner naming his vessel FLYING DUTCHMAN. She was launched in 1852, one of the fastest clippers to make the run from New York to San Francisco. Her name, however, soon overpowered her performance. Inexplicable events began to occur aboard – accidents, broken engine parts, torn sails, etc. – and she began to slow down for no apparent reason. On her way home to New York in October 1857, after a rough voyage around Cape Horn, she passed the ship STARLIGHT in the Atlantic. The STARLIGHT commander said she "seemed in good order and was sailing swiftly north," but the FLYING DUTCHMAN never made it back to home port. For some unknown reason, she hit Brigantine Beach, New Jersey, and wrecked, with most of her occupants saved but the ship a complete loss. The clipper FLYING DUTCHMAN had lived up to her name and, to my knowledge, no other ship owner was fool enough to name his vessel after this phantom of the sea.